This volume explores the arts-based methodology of body mapping, a
participant-driven approach wherein people create richly illustrated
life-size maps that articulate their embodied experiences with various
health issues. First developed in the global South as a means of
community mobilization and advocacy regarding women's health and
HIV-related care needs, body mapping is now used by researchers, health
practitioners, and community agencies globally to explore social
determinants of health among diverse groups. However, the selective
borrowing of certain tenets of the approach and the disregard for others
in these studies raises the issue of cultural appropriation, and this is
one of the key issues the explored.
The second issue examined relates to the analysis of body mapping data,
which remains an under-developed aspect of the methodology that the
author addresses through the new mixed-method approach she created to
more fully understand these arts-based data. Orchard also examines and
seeks to explain the transformative nature of the body mapping research
experience, for herself and the study participants. The data for this
book come from an ethnographic study with HIV-positive women and men who
struggle with addictions, HIV stigma, and historical traumas stemming
from colonialism in two Canadian cities, including the beautiful body
maps, individual interviews, and field notes.
The author provides a compelling and deeply empathetic account of the
powerful role that the arts, therapeutic practice, and human connection
play in the production of research that yields rich data and can
transform the lives of those involved. Remembering the Body will be of
interest to social science and health scholars, community agencies, and
those in activist circles who are interested in using body mapping in
their mindful academic and applied work.
